Greenspan’s point was that people who seek the presidency today display a pathological power lust that ought to make us uncomfortable, given the powers the modern president enjoys.
George Washington was called “the American Cincinnatus,” after the Roman hero who took power reluctantly and returned humbly to his plow when crisis passed. That’s the model Americans once expected presidents to follow. Things have changed, and not for the better.
The last candidate to pay tribute to the Cincinnatus model was 1996 GOP contender Bob Dole, who praised the virtues of his birthplace, Russell, Kan., insisting it was either the White House or “home.” It turned out that Dole left “home” deliberately vague. After losing, he returned to his condo at the Watergate, making bucks as a lobbyist and Viagra pitchman.
As for the current POTUS, “he’s always wanted to be president,” according to Obama’s longtime friend and advisor Valerie Jarrett. No surprise, then, that, as Newsweek editor Jon Meacham put it in a profile of Obama earlier this year, he “likes and enjoys power,” even “revels” in it.
Revels is too weak a word. Wallows is more like it. Many of us have been pointing out that this man is narcissistic to the point of pathology. Read all of Healy’s piece and be afraid. There is a real arrogance, a real rejection of the ideal of the Cincinnatus model in Obama.
Looks to me like W is fitting into that image.
This guy is an odd contradiction, Oblabla as Dear Leader, the weak Bolshevik, the pampered street kid.
He’s a full-blown Narcissist, a full-blown AntiSocial/AntiAuthoritarian loner. Bright, but a utter ignoramus with never a work ethic.
His only attachment is to BS–if the Clintons are congenital liars, this guy is a congential fraud like Joseph Smith. He cannot bear to play it straight, even in unguarded moments, e.g, the Joe the Plumber incident.
Because of the incongruities we both discount him and fear him. He’s a/the unMessiah.
The Hassan-rampage apologia/coverup combined with the Afghanistan retreat, the Ayers & Wright WH visits, mean the mask is discarded for good.
Happy Holidays AmeriKKKa!